Shes Just a Little Weird
by Mister Evil
Summary: Soft, Quiet, Unsettling. All these words describe the girl that is Alice Lovelace, but who is she really? And why do all of the new kids find her absolutely interesting? Shes just a freaky witch girl. (Emmett/OC Slight Edward/OC Not Alice Cullen) Slight AU as in not the same feel of Forks from the books or movies! Inspo is The Good Witch
1. Chapter 1

_**Here we go again guys. This was a little short but its a start! Let me know if you've got any thoughts.**_

* * *

Ever since I was a child, I could...get a feeling of people? No, no. That doesn't sound right. I could sense people? It isn't like I guessed, I rarely ever guessed but I'm always right when I have a feeling. Almost always. I don't know how, and I don't know why. I can just...feel people. My mom says its a gift that I'll be able to focus on a little more when I'm older.

I think its a curse.

I learned as I got a little older and hit high school, don't just say hi when someone approaches you. You have to wait to turn around so I don't freak them out as much. I can kind of tell when people are lying about being totally cool with me, theres like a jump or something in them. Or, more so in the _feeling_ I get of them.

I'm kinda wishy-washy.

"Alice." Angela's voice startled me in my seat in the cafeteria, making me squeeze the juice out of the juice box I was holding. She looked worriedly at me as I grinned, a little ashamed at how exaggerated my reaction was.

"Sorry." I pulled my grin down to a smile while she returned my assumed glee.

"I'll go grab some towel's so we can clean it up a little." She giggled softly and stood from our two person table. We sat to the side of the cafeteria, next to the windows and the paper towel roll. Much easier that way.

We began wiping away at the cranberry juice I'd dumped everywhere when I picked up on a Jessica Stanley coming by, possibly to laugh or possibly to gossip. I honestly couldn't tell.

"Hi Jessica." I greeted as I felt the chatty teen come a little closer. I could see her pause a second out of the corner of my eye as I continued to wipe away the juice. F

"Hi...Alice." She replied uneasily, opening her mouth for a second as I turned to face her.

"I could see you out of the corner of my eye. Cute top by the way." I smiled, hoping she'd take the bait and turned again to dump the soaked paper towels.

"Oh thanks! So, anyways I wanted to just let you guys know. Its for sure." She looked giddy as it dawned on me what she was talking about. The new students who'd be in our year. Junior year seemed like a strange time for them to move but I had a feeling it was for good reasons.

"Whats for sure?" Angela asked, glancing at me in confusion as I came closer to the table again. I shrugged mutely.

"The new students. Theres like 7 of them." She clapped as I pursed my lips.

"I think theres only 6." I tilted my head as she furrowed her brows at me. "I was talking to Mrs Wilkin's yesterday." I added as her brows relaxed and she grinned, nodding as she accepted my excuse of the school secretary.

"Right! Okay, theres still a lot of them." She chattered. I nodded, smiling still as she continued to talk about how to best greet these new comers and what boys she thought they might be like. I wasn't sure they were all male but, I'd let her dream nonetheless.

The bell rang finally, silencing Jessica for a second before she waved and ran off to her next class. Angela and I slowly packed up, walking towards the science wing where she had her chemistry and my biology class.

"Did you really talk to Mrs Wilkins?" She seemed shy about the question.

"No. I figured it sounded more normal though." I shrugged, grinning at that. She nodded, agreeing that it was a lot more normal. I think Angela was the only person I'd met in Forks that didn't find it all that strange that I could tell people apart without really getting to know them among other things.

* * *

"Hi Alice." My mother called out to me as soon as I opened the door to her little shop. Her back was turned but she always knew it was me. I think its a family thing.

"How was school?" She turned now, facing me completely. I shrugged as I went around her, putting my backpack on the couch she had near the back. She sold herbs, teas, essential oils, and other assorted odd bits. I loved her shop. It felt homey but light at the some time, with pastel blues and reds.

"Anything happen?" She tilted her head as she came to sit down in front of me, setting down the dusting brush she'd been using.

"No, just keep hearing about these new kids." I sighed, pulling my legs up to sit in front of me. She gave me a sighing smile, seeming to understand why I wouldn't really want to hear all about them. I'd lived in Forks for maybe 5 years now, since I was 11.

"Abby, I have the wors-" I looked behind my mother as she began to reach for two dark glass tubes on the white wicker table in front of us. I found one of my school friend's mothers, Elizabeth Stanley.

"For your sinuses." Mom held the glass bottle up to her with a knowing smile at the women in business wear. Mrs Stanley took it slowly, closing her mouth with whatever words were left.

"Echinacea and goldenseal. You can put the echinacea in a tea and the goldenseal in some boiling water and breath in but don't combine them." Mom smiled at her softly, not saying anything else as Mrs Stanley attempted to find words.

"Right, uh...how much do I owe you?" She nodded quickly, apparently accepting whatever my mom said about the glass dropper bottles in her hands.

"13 dollars." Mom answered easily, accepting the money Mrs Stanley pulled out of her leather purse.

"Thanks, Abby!" Mrs Stanley yelled as she hurried back out the door, the bell rang as she closed it behind her.

"Tea?" My mother offered a fragile looking decorated cup to me. She'd been expecting me, it seemed. I guess that was a plus of having a mom who was just a little weird like you, she knew when you were coming and what you'd need when you got there.

"Thanks." I smiled as I took the cup, sniffing the sheer brown liquid inside it. "What is it?" I raised a brow, looking at her over the edge of my cup.

"Blue Vervain. Might help to soothe your nerves." She smiled as she took a sip from hers. I sighed before I took a sip, recognizing the warm smell now. I took a small sip of the warm tea that tasted almost lemony, greeted me.

"You always know what to do." I smiled at this woman who seemed to be an older version of me. The same brown hair and blue eyes greeted me but with warmth and life.

"I know a few things but...I only know as much as I try and I never know who I might stand up too." She finished with another odd piece of wisdom I'd grown so accustomed too. I took another sip of the tea she'd made prior to my arrival and contemplated it.

She gave me a loving smile and stood, brushing non-existent pieces of dust off of her pants-legs. I stood as well, putting down my oddly extravagant tea cup and hugged her quickly before leaving her to be a business owner.

We didn't live too far away from Main street so I elected to walk slowly, enjoy the cold breeze while I could.

"So sorry." I bumped into a boney shoulder and paused to apologize.

"No problem." Eric Yorkie quickly accepted my apology and continued, possibly not wanting to be seen talking to me. The thought stung but I pushed it away to focus back on the nice walk I'd been having.

Ever since we came here, I'd been both the main place of entertainment for most of the kids here _and_ a sight for the creepy-crawlies. I got it. I'm pretty unsettling as a person and not all that interesting looking after the new wore off. I didn't get all excited for a boy to talk to me, told my mom everything that happened in my life, and I focused a bunch on my studies.

But it wasn't all that bad. My mom had her shop which made her happy and I had Angela to talk to whenever I wanted. We clicked on the first day, I had a feeling we would. I was super nervous to go but mom kept saying that it was a new start and a new start meant a new place to grow. Angela and I grew very close over the first week, just a little too awkward to be average.

I passed by the library and considered stopping there to peruse any new books Miss Rays might have gotten in. Then I elected not too, the concept of laying in my bed with some ice cream and the computer was far too tempting.


	2. Chapter 2

_**So! Couplings:**_

 _ **Esme/Carlisle**_

 _ **Edward/TBD**_

 _ **Alice/TBD (Possibly a female)**_

 _ **Emmett/OC Alice**_

 _ **Jasper/ OC Catharin from "For the First Real Time" on Dr Mini Me. She'll be explained by Alice when she figures things out with the Cullens!**_

 _ **Rosalie/ TBD (Also possibly a female.)**_

* * *

"Are you excited about the new girls that are coming tomorrow?" My mother cooked her Indian chicken curry with a slow stir in front of me. I could smell familiar spices drift from the pot but I was always unable to place them, really.

"A little." I shrugged, looking between the white counter tops I was seated on and my mother's face every few seconds. Sometimes I worried about her when I'd be off to college, my dads death had hit her hard over 5 years ago but I figured Forks might help her feel a little better.

"Worried about them not liking you?" I paused as I realized that was what I was worried about when I really thought about it. She'd hit the nail right on the head, like always. She'd already come home with another tub of vegan brownie ice cream to replace the one I'd consumed in my bed a few hours ago, maybe I didn't need to worry about her at all?

"I just keep hearing people whisper about them and what if they're actually really nice? But...they're not really nice to me?" I blew air slowly as I tried to explain the thought process I'd been having since this morning when I figured there'd be some new kids with rather odd names.

"And what's with showing up like a month after the school year starts. That's a little weird, isn't it?" I frowned now, looking at my mom for answers of some kind.

"Whats strange to us may be normal to someone else." She shrugged, smiling fondly at me.

"So you're saying I should give it a chance because everyone thinks I'm strange?" I raised a brow, waiting for her to be a little clearer with her meaning this time.

"No, I'm just saying you never know how you'll run into a new friend." She looked away from me, back down to the pot as she pulled the wooden spoon out and held it up to me. "Try it, tell me if it needs anything."

I leaned down and sipped the yellowish sauce and shook my head as I swallowed it, "It's good."

"Well dinner's up then." She smiled again as she turned to hand me a plate. I hopped down and followed suit as she dished out some chicken and sauce with rice.

* * *

Riding my bike to school wasn't all that bad. It gave me plenty of time to myself and to think but it also gave me plenty of time to be late if I didn't pedal fast enough. Jessica had already gotten her car, Angela was so sure if she wanted one, and I'm pretty sure all the guys in my grade had a car. That left me without any options for a car or not, we just couldn't afford it at the moment.

My mom's shop and my schooling took priority over a car when we were within biking distance of the school. That made more than enough sense, so why did I feel like I was about to wish I had a car?

"DING!" The sound of metal hitting metal reached my ears as I came to a full stop suddenly. I reacted too slow I felt my body tilt to the side but I stopped? I blinked for a good few seconds before I realized I'd almost fallen off the bike but...

"Oh, hello." I hesitantly greeted a copper haired boy that struck me as Edward for some reason or another. He was new, and he was oddly beautiful in an older romantic novel way. Like he'd stepped out of a Jane Austen book but with modern clothes...and he was currently holding me onto the bike.

"Hello." He greeted me gruffly with an odd sort of twisting look on his face. It dawned on me that it might be because I was currently leaning onto him with a bike that was just slightly too bent out of shape to ride anymore.

"Sorry!" A Sprite-like looking girl yelled out the window with a high pitched voice. She looked rather pleased with herself, this Allison. No, no. Alice? She could either be an Allison or an Alice. Maybe it was the eyes that made her feel like an Alice. The car was bright red so I wasn't entirely sure as to how I didn't miss it, sports cars weren't all that common in Forks. Especially not at a high school.

"It's fine!" I yelled back as I moved to get off of the bike and began walking with it. I quickly left the area the siblings were in given a line had formed near the entrance and Edward's face kept twisting rather uncomfortably. I suppose I should have really paid more attention when I was crossing such a busy intersection into the school.

I forced the bike lock around the bent wheel and sighed a little at myself as I realised I was locking up something that no one would really care to steal. I wanted to keep it because I could probably get it fixed but...it was kinda bent all out of shape.

I stood for a second and mentally shrugged it off, worst that would happen is my mom would get a little disappointed, tell me to pay more attention, and I'd have to walk to school for a while.

It wouldn't change my day, I was going to have a good one. I was sure of it. I just had to get to Mr Aids AP lit class first and preferably with all of my stuff. I pushed and shoved my way through the halls until I found Angela looking a little lost next to my locker.

"Hey, Ange." I waved at her as I came closer and smiled my hello.

"Oh good, I thought we'd be late to lit." She looked a little relieved but then paused as I opened my locker. "By the way, is it true you hit one of the new kid's cars?"

"Wow, news travel's fast." I sighed with a bit of chagrin as I grabbed out books and three pencils.

"So what happened?" She seemed quite interested in knowing as she following me to Mr Aid's classroom on the other side of school.

"I wasn't paying any attention and just ran into-" I stopped talking as I collided into a large, bulky frame that took up most of the doorway. I pretty much just bounced off of the guy like he'd been a solid rock wall and landed on my ass with a bump.

"Like that." I sighed as I rolled over to pick up all of my stuff that had scattered in the fall. Angela bent down as well to help me, her hands were much more slender and her fingers longer which meant she'd ended up grabbing most of it before I could.

"Whoops, sorry about that." A deep, booming voice apologized to me. I looked over my shoulder as I stood to see a boy that was twice the size that I'd remembered my father being as a child. But he was far more muscular, not quite overweight, just...really built and kind of beautiful in the face. He towered over me by at least a foot but he didn't look all that happy to see me. If anything, he seemed annoyed by my existence to the point that he'd only glance at me then look away again.

"It's fine." I replied as I studied his features, searching for a name. Em. Em what? I furrowed my brow as I tried to remember the list of names Jessica had called off to me when school ended yesterday. I'd already found Edward so this must be Emmett.

"Right." He nodded and quickly squished his way through the narrow door frame and into the classroom. He seemed to be in a hurry and I couldn't help but feel like he was in a hurry to get away from me. One possible friend down already. Great job, Alice.

Angela and I followed in after a second and sat down at our usual spot. Middle row of the classroom, perfect to hear the teacher and see the board but not get caught for a cell phone. Just one of the many pluses of a lecturing hall style room, I guess.

I kept feeling eyes on the side of my head and tried to ignore them to focus on a discussion of _T_ _he Scarlet Letter._ It didn't work out all that well, I mean we were only on chapter three but god, was I bored. Hester refuses to give a name, Hester's husband is nearly useless, and I wanted to know who was watching me.

It felt innocent enough to glance around the room, until I spotted Emmett's eyes on mine. They were warm but seemed distant from here, I wasn't sure if it was just because he didn't really like me that they were distant or if it was because he'd just been staring at nothing. My question was answered when he blinked and quickly looked away, he was just staring into the distance and I happened to be sitting here. Awkward.

The lesson dragged on and I felt him watching again, so I glanced again to find his eyes as they quickly darted away from me. Maybe he was just wondering who I was? I mean he probably heard the rumours by now. It's not like people were subtle about what they felt around here.

I was tolerated but I wasn't really wanted per se. I was sort of the kid that everyone knew because she'd been here forever, but my mom was absolutely beloved. Funny how when she's helpful people just think she's great but when I try to be helpful, I'm just weird.

I looked back again out of curiosity and found Emmett's eyes once again with some butterflies erupting in my stomach. I smiled lightly at him and found he didn't really like that?

"Mr Cullen?" Mr Aids was trying to get his attention but it didn't really work. I was a little taken aback as I watched him shove all two of his pens and a piece of paper into his backpack and get up.

"Mr Cullen!" Mr Aids followed as he stormed out of the room with little response to the teacher. I could hear Mr Aids continue to call after him all the way down the hall until the bang of the outside doors closing signaled he was gone.

"That was weird." Angela commented warily from next to me, I glanced back at her and cleared my throat.

"Maybe he didn't feel well?" I shrugged as I tried to shake the feeling that his sudden departure was my fault. Smile at a guy and suddenly you force him to storm out of the school in a rage. If it's my fault, I'm pretty sure this is a sign that I wouldn't date anyone til college. No matter what my gut said about it.


	3. Chapter 3

_**So I read the reviews you guys submitted and you have been heard! However, it feels strange to change the name from Alice as her last name is already strange so I included a little bit below that will hopefully clear any possible confusion for anyone at all and I hope this is fleshed out more.**_

 _ **Also! I can't decide if Alice is just going to be married to Edward or if she's waiting on a certain lady to come into her life (possibly Bella Swan's twin?). Same issue for Rosalie but with Bella Swan? I don't know guys x...x**_

 _ **Ideas?**_

* * *

"Think you'll be okay to walk back all the way through town?" Angela bit her lip as she asked, she was still in motion of getting into her mom's car. She seemed nervous to leave me in after school today, maybe because of the new kids? I mean, her mom did too considering she was hanging halfway out of the car window to talk to me but she hadn't even heard of the splash the Cullens had made just yet.

"We can just drive you back, its not a problem, Alice!" Angela's mother was a kind but a little over bearing in my opinion.

She loved her daughter dearly, and wouldn't leave her alone if she could. I wasn't so sure it was the same for Angela's younger twin brothers, Joshua and Isaac. Sleep overs were fun but a little muted when we were younger, in bed by 10 at the latest but we got plenty of snacks and her little twin brothers stayed far away from us. I think Angela liked it more at my house, mainly because my mom could care less what we did as long as we didn't get hurt...and we got pancakes in the morning.

"I'm fine! I'm just walking to my mom's shop on main street Mrs Weber." I called back to the little woman who seemed to disagree with my ability to walk to a shop and not somehow get mugged or something. It was a little uncomfortable at this point so I focused on hiking my backpack's straps higher up on my shoulder to distract myself.

"Mom! Can we just go?" Angela's little 8 year old brother, Joshua, seemed to be a touch whiny in the back seat of their minivan. His twin, Isaac, was silent and too involved with whatever was going on in his mind to be bothered by a hold up on my behalf.

"Alright, well...text Angie when you get there. Okay?" She submitted finally, thank goodness. I was worried we'd be out here till 5, going back and forth as to whether or not I'd get into the car.

"I will." I waved at the Webers as they left the parking lot with a pinched smile on my face. I waited until I was sure they'd left before I began to grab my smashed bike and pushed it towards my destination. She meant well, but...I don't know. I guess she was just too hands-on of a parent for my tastes.

If my mom got worried, she generally had an idea as to where I was already. She called it her 'mommy sense' but I think she just had a tracking device or _something..._ or she just knew me too well. I mean there were really only three places I went on a regular basis, school, home, and my mom's shop. Although sometimes I stopped for coffee at the bakery just before main street.

I stared at the ground and my bike's bent front wheel mainly until it hit something. I peered at that item for a while to figure out it was a large foot, clad in some kind of black fitness or tennis shoe. I looked up to see the same guy who'd bailed in the middle of class thanks to me.

"Oh. Hello, Emmett." I greeted him awkwardly, shifting my weight so that the bike wasn't touching his foot anymore. I hoped I hadn't dirtied his shoes, they looked expensive.

He furrowed a brow but said nothing really. My eyes darted around his person to pick up he'd been dressed pretty lightly for the cold September wind here but also that he'd been doing some grocery shopping. Odd thing to do after leaving school so abruptly but he seemed like the type to get hungry a lot. I watched him for a moment longer until I cleared my throat and looked away towards the busy street on my left.

"How'd you know my name's Emmett?" I looked back at the confused but strained voice he had, I could just barely hear it over the sounds of rush hour traffic. It was quite a bit different from the booming one I'd heard in the hallway. He seemed out of place here, like he was nervous to even be near me. I panicked for a good second, still staring at his face as I thought of a good reason as to why I would know that.

"Um. New kids, you're all super popular when you arrive." I giggled unceremoniously as I declared my excuse with a dismissive wave of my hand. I honestly didn't know _why_ I knew it. I just knew it. I had a feeling, I guess. No. That sounds crazy and I know it does but I still don't have the reason why or how I know.

"Ah." He gave me a small toothy smile before he ran a hand over the back of his neck and sighed.

"So...since you know my name...I guess it's only fair that I know yours, right?" Emmett looked back at me, his expression made him seem almost small but hopeful at the same time. The fact he could possibly have looked so small with such a large frame threw me but I seemed to have the uncanny ability to make nearly everyone around me uncomfortable.

"I think you already know my name." I shrugged, giving him a small smile back. I had a feeling he already had anyways, it wasn't hard to go 'whose the quiet girl in the back' and have someone answer 'oh, thats Alice Lovelace.'

"What?" He paused, looking taken aback again, almost panicked by my answer. "What do you mean?" Now he wasn't totally freaking out, but I had a feeling he'd taken my answer the wrong way. Two bad impressions in one day, Alice. Congrats. You dinged his sister's expensive car and now you're freaking him out.

"Its just that rumours float around all schools, but small schools especially?" I mean to state it as a fact but I wasn't entirely secure in my answer anymore as he continued to freak. He seemed to process my answer for a second before he made an O of understanding with his mouth and nodded.

"Right, yeah. But uh...let's just say I haven't heard of these rumours yet. What would I call you then?" He seemed to be much more calm and controlled now, as he spoke lightly with me. He even smiled like this was a light-hearted conversation for fun and giggles.

"I usually go by Alice." I shrugged, watching his expression grow more confident looking.

"The name Alice is too incesty for me. I'll call ya, Ali." He nodded, mainly to himself as I raised a brow at his own terminology.

"Is it because its just like your sister's name?" I questioned cautiously, trying not to show that I had no way of really knowing his sister's name outside of Jessica running me through the list a day or so ago.

"Kinda. Everyone calls her Alice but her name's really Mary Alice." He shrugged this time, giving me a little more info on his family members and his relationship to them by his tone.

"You have a large family, right?" I prodded, waiting to see if he'd tell me about the rest of them. Maybe even his parents and what brought the whole family here.

"I guess. There's 8 of us all together." He continued, looking back down at me then towards the empty lot next to us. I think people used it as a parking lot when they want to go shopping on Main street or something.

"I thought there was only 6 of you?" I titled my head to the right as I realised, I might actually be wrong about something.

"...Theres 6 of us kids, but we do have parents." He grinned at my lapse of memory. Right. Parents usually come with a pack of kids, duh. Good job, Alice.

"Whats your brothers like?" I began to prod more at his family life, curious to the point that I'd push the idea past what he was entirely comfortable with it seemed.

"Uh, well. Edward is kinda moody and Jasper is pretty fun. Hes just serious a lot." Emmett shrugged, giving me a shorter answer than I'd hoped for. It just felt really awkward now, seemed like I'd made him uncomfortable yet again.

"Right." I nodded with a faint smile. I didn't say anything more which caused both of us to simply fall into silence.

Big families fascinated me because it'd been just me and my mom for a while now. When my dad was still alive, it was little more adventurous with how much we moved thanks to his job in a trucking company but now we'd settled down. It was nice enough, I guess. I think the constant moving gave me a bit of wanderlust though. I always wanted to travel around, outside of Forks.

"Do you have any sisters or brothers?" He seemed curious but it also felt like he already knew the answer. That was odd but not all that uncommon considering that this was a pretty small school.

I raised a brow but humoured him nonetheless. "None. I'm an only child." I chirped, trying to keep it pleasant enough with a guy whose day I'd probably ruined somehow.

"I see." He nodded solemnly, like he didn't know exactly what my family situation was. It wasn't a big secret, if anything it was common knowledge for kids that had grown up in Forks. I was a new kid at some point, that means I was vigorously searched for interesting tidbits of information like my dad being dead or my mom owning a shop.

"Yup." I cleared my throat as we fell back into silence again and looked back over to the road. He just felt so restrained to me, like he was trying to have a quiet confidence with not a single hair out of place in eye sight. He didn't feel like a bad person, if anything he felt like a better person than several of my classmates but there was some tarnishing deep in his soul. I just couldn't figure out what that meant.

Often enough I'd get certain feelings about people that went deeper the longer I searched and the longer we talked. Angela for instance, she was pure and wholesome. She felt like a warm light in the middle of all of the cattiness, maybe that's why her mother was so hands-on. She'd probably run a blocking system like keeping certain friend's phone calls out of Angela's knowledge just to keep her innocence in tact.

"I think I should go. I have a feeling my mother's wondering where I am." I smiled innocently back at him, as he seemed to jump into motion roughly by nodding.

"Right! Yeah, of course. Um...Could I walk you there? Maybe?" He raised a brow looking oddly hopeful for a guy that seemed insistent on avoiding me before.

I tilted my head again, searching for a reason that he'd change his mind so quickly but...I couldn't really find anything. It lead me to assume this was either a gentlemanly thing to do that was bred into him by his mother or that he was doing it out of pity. The latter didn't make me feel as good as the first did, I was just hoping it was the first choice because of that.

"I mean, you don't have too. Its just to my mom's shop on main street so if you have something better to do, you should probably do it." I shrugged, moving my left leg closer to my right in a fidget. Emmett didn't seem like a fidgeter considering he hadn't really moved since he'd started talking to me.

"Oh, I've got nothing better to do and..." He trailed off, looking a little lost in his thoughts for a second. "My moms birthday is coming up." He finished looking rather pleased with himself as he nodded more.

"Ah. I'm sure my mom has something for her." I supposed and nodded as I turned to move my bike past his large frame. We'd been standing in a grass patch just next to the sidewalk as I'd been on my way there before I ran into his foot.


	4. Chapter 4

The classic bell dinged above us as I entered in first, with Emmett holding the swinging shop door open for me. I came in and felt a little bit of stress leave me from the familiar smells and sounds of busy people in a little room. Emmett stood uncomfortably near me while I began to smile lightly, my mother was close by.

"Welcome to the Bell and Candle, Emmett." My mother's serenity echoed in her voice and I knew she had that same little smile on her face before I ever turned around.

"Uh...Hi Mrs Lovelace." He responded awkwardly, looking just as thrown off as he had when I said hello earlier. I faced her and Emmett as he shoved his hands farther into his jean pockets.

"Oh, call me Abby. Please." She stood with her head just to his shoulder, her hands were folded over her front and my mother looked patiently at him. Despite the obvious differences in size, she didn't look as nearly out of place as Emmett Cullen did. His eyes kept darting around the room and the exit behind us.

"I think Emmett was looking for a gift..." I trailed off after a few seconds of silence, hoping to jog someone into moving. I was used to my mother just standing and waiting for the other person to become less flummoxed by her but I felt bad for Em.

"Right yeah, but uh. I-I'm not sure what she'd want." He continued quickly, like he'd caught on to what I was trying to do for him.

"Mm...I believe I have just the thing. Follow me." She smiled at him softly, turning and heading off towards a selection of delicate tea pots and glasses in the back corner. I nodded at him as he began to slowly follow behind her, he looked just as alarmed as he had before. Honestly, this was starting to just become a little amusing.

I elected to make my way to the back room where she kept the nice, big, and comfy couches for tea that I knew she'd already prepared for me. If I ever came back from school and there _wasn't_ something prepared, thats when I'd start to worry about her.

"Hes interesting." My mother remarked, I looked behind her somewhat expecting to see his large figure but nope.

"I guess so." I shrugged and leaned back into the cushions. Interesting could mean a lot of different things, so many definitions but in this case...I had a feeling it meant neither of us were sure what the Cullens were like or who they really were.

"He picked out the Mandarin Pot." She continued on as though I'd responded just as enthusiastically as she'd wanted in the first place.

"The rosey one or the bird one?" I snorted, they both looked just as chaotic to me. Flowers, birds, and scenes of women in traditional garb were painted over the entire tea pot. You could barely see the white porcelain underneath the chaos.

"The rose one." She smiled at me, and shook her head at my distaste for the decorations. She'd lived quite the life before I was born, art history and archaeology were her passions and they took her all over the world on adventures.

"So I hit a car with my bike this morning...its going to be out of commission for a good while." I sighed as I traced my finger around the edge of my cup.

"I know, hun. Its alright. I don't care about the bike as long as you're okay." I could see her nodding from the corner of my eye. I nodded back to her, not saying anything as I finished my cup and set it down on the glass table in front of me.

"I think I'll head home, mom. Love you." I stood and stretched, feeling the tightness in my back lengthen out.

"Be safe." She called out, already disappearing behind the door that blocked off this sanctuary to the rest of the shop. I slid on my backpack and started making my way back home.

* * *

The Lovelace home was large, larger than my mother and I really needed which is why we usually ran it as a B&B. It was for the few people who decided they wanted to come see Forks for some strange reason. We didn't have any guests this week though, which is why I couldn't quite figure out why I felt eyes on my shoulder and head.

To be fair, I'd passed out in the window seat in our green room and it was now dark out. Everyone felt like there was something watching them in the dark, especially when you couldn't see anything. I glanced around at the assorted plants and pots of dirt around the room. Plants were comfortable feeling, soft and innocent but they weren't people.

They couldn't be the one watching me.

I glanced back to the glass, a wall of black was behind it and I couldn't see anything as I pressed my hand to the glass. The heat from my hand caused a cloud of fog, I pulled it away and drew a smiley face. The loop-side smiley face made me smile as I stared at it...wait.

"Holy _crap,_ " I jerked away from the window as I noticed a set of eyes glancing back at me from the smiley's eyes. My head bounced off the floor as I fell off the seat, taking the pillows and blanket with me. "Oh my god." I breathed.

I laid back against the cold stone floor for a few seconds, feeling my heart jump up my throat as I placed a hand over the back of my head. Ow.

"Alice?" My mother's voice called from the living room with a tinge of worry. Oops...I guess I'd slept all the way through til 7 pm.

"Bad dream! Fell of the window again." I yelled to her, lying a little. I felt bad but how could I know I wasn't actually asleep? I stared at the window, no smiley face to be seen now.

"Alright!" She shouted back, sounding less worried now which made me feel better.

I stood up off the floor, pulling the blanket up with me and snatched the pillows off the floor. It wasn't like I didn't have bad dreams before...sometimes they made sense and other times it was like I was looking through someone else's life but I knew they were just dreams. My mom said it was "past lives" resurfacing, but I disagreed.

I just had an overactive imagination.

* * *

"Ali!" I paused in my motions to unlock my locker, taking account of Emmett jogging towards me down the crowded high school hallway. I had another dream last night but...now I knew someone in it.

 _I pulled my dress over my knees, not really caring if it got dirty in my search for mushrooms. Flour sack dresses were easily washed and momma didn't mind how dirty I got in them. "Repair, reuse, make do, and don't throw nothing away", she always said that to me after Daddy died in the war. Stupid Germans._

 _I huffed silently as I continued to scour the forest floor, looking through leave piles. It was so hot today. I wiped sweat off my brow, feeling dirt on my forehead as I did it. I paused as I heard cracking._

 _Slowly, I looked over my shoulder, halfway expecting some kinda blood-thirsty animal behind me. I gasped as tall young man stepped out from behind a tree, a rifle slung over his shoulder. He was big for the times we were in, family must have been rich enough to feed him well._

 _"Sorry, ma'am," He put his hands up with a grin on his face, dimples on his cheeks. "Didn't mean to scare ya."_

 _"Quite alright, I startle easy." I stood up quickly, wiping dirt off my knees awkwardly._

 _"You live around here?" I looked back up at him, his eyes were a bright baby blue...like the prettiest gem I'd ever_

"Ali?" I jumped a little as I realised how close he was now. Damn, he moved quickly. I needed to stop daydreaming.

"Sorry..." I stared at his eyes for a second, they were...gold. Not blue. It wasn't him in my dream, I guess. "Just distracted today." I finished lamely as I focused on my locker again.

"Bump your head or something?" He laughed tensely. I paused with my hand on my biology textbook. Odd. I felt like he knew about my tumble but...I hadn't told anyone that I hit my head. Not even my own mother.

"Kinda. How'd Esme like your tea pot?" I commented off-hand, not really focusing on anything except that he knew more than he should.

"Uh...she liked it a lot." He trailed off awkwardly. I glanced at him for a moment before I realised the slip-up and grabbed my book quickly.

"Sorry, mom told me who your mom was." I giggled in a high pitch, slamming my locker shut. He was going to think I was weird, just like everyone else.

"Right." He nodded quickly, a small smile appearing. The bell rung loudly above us, startling me into speed walking to biology. I stared at the floor, not even bothering to say goodbye to Emmett. I felt like that'd just make it even weirder...normally I had an idea of when the bell would ring but not today. I'm all out of sorts. Jeeze.

I threw my book on the table, not caring about the noise and slipped into my seat. It took me a moment before I realised there was someone else at my table. I glanced next to me, taking note of the black jeans and odd black dress shoes...Edward.

"Hello, Edward." I looked up from the lanky limbs to the cut cheek bones and piercing eyes. He was glaring at me, forcing one of my eyebrows to raise on it's own as I posed a mental question, "Why was he so mad?"

"Alice, right?" He peered harder at me, the glare dissolved only slightly.

"Yup." I chirped, forcing a friendly overtone into my voice and eyes.

"I've heard quite a bit about you." He mentioned casually, watching my face.

"Same here, I guess." I shrugged, looking back at the book I'd thrown onto what used to be _my_ table.


End file.
